Ahead of publishing my new lace boyshort pattern, I wanted to share with you a pattern alteration to help achieve the best fit in boyshorts.  Do you ever find the back of the leg opening gaping at the bum? Perhaps you have a flatter bum or narrower hips than what the pattern is drafted for.  Below is a simple pattern alteration to shorten the width of the leg opening to get a smoother fit.

Excess fabric and looseness at the back leg opening

Determine the excess amount and divide by two.  For this example, let's use 1" as the excess amount; divided in two and we have 1/2". 
On the pattern piece, bring in the inseam at the leg opening 1/2" on each side.  You can see the new inseam and leg opening lines below drawn in red.  Measure the new inseam length on each side to make sure the lengths match.  Adjust if necessary.

If you  are using a pattern with elastic or bands to finish the leg opening, you will need to shorten those lengths as well.

If you have any questions, or suggestions for other panty fitting tutorials, leave me a comment below.  Until next time, Happy Sewing.

Want to learn how to hack the Delvine Bralette into a sports bra?  

When I create patterns, I try to make them easy to customize not only for style but for fit as well.  To get an optimal fit in the Delvine Bralette, it may be necessary to move the dart position so that it is aligned with the apex on the body.

The apex is the fullest part of the bust, usually where the nipple lies.  In the photo above, you can see that the dart aligns with the fullest part of the bust, and also aligns with the vertical seam on the dress form.  Depending on your body shape, it may be necessary to alter the apex position on the pattern pieces.​

Below is a video tutorial showing you how to determine your apex measurement and how to alter the pattern pieces.  As I mention in the video, regardless of what front style you wish to use, you will need to begin with changing the pattern piece for Front A, D, E, F.  Once you have changed it, you will need to copy the changes to Front B/C and any of the lace overlay pieces you wish to use.

I have received a few other dart-related questions, so I will answer them here.

​Why does the dart go past the apex?
Usually when sewing tops and dresses, we want the dart to end 1"+ away from the apex point.  If the dart ended directly at the apex, that would create pointiness in the bust, which is not very flattering. On my initial sample of the Delvine, I had the dart end directly at the apex point and the shape it created was pointy and not very pretty.  But having the dart end above the apex point creates a nice rounded shape.  

Why are the dart legs curved?
Again, when sewing tops and dresses, we usually see straight dart legs.  Curved dart legs create a shape that contours more closely to the body, and in bra-making we definitely want a close fit!  The curves in the dart legs create a rounded shape that contours to the roundness of the breast.

How can I transfer the dart onto my fabric?
When I made my samples, I used transfer marking paper and a tracing wheel.  But one of my testers had a brilliant idea!  She printed out an extra front piece and cut out the dart area, then used that to trace the dart.

Do you have any other dart-related questions?  Ask me in the comments section below.  Until next time, Happy Sewing!

When I design a pattern, I try to offer four style variations.  Sometimes I'll have ideas for more variations, but, for a number of reasons, I can't include them all in the pattern.  When I was working on the Elodie Briefs I had more ideas for lace overlays, which will be used for a new pattern in the future, and I also had an idea for a strappy option that uses elastic along the sides instead of the side panels.  The pattern was already long enough, so I decided to offer the instructions here as a pattern hack.  I hope you enjoy.

I’ve already covered pattern alterations for adjusting the rise for a different torso length, which affects both the front and back rise length.  But what do we do when the back rise length is good, and the front rise dips too low?  

Christmas is almost here, and what a perfect time to use some of my luxurious and sparkly fabrics!  Stretch panne velvet and gold stretch mesh are made up into a longline hack of my Iris Bralette pattern.  This pattern hack is super easy, and creates such a pretty silhouette!

For the best fit on the Iris Bralette, you will want the vertical seam to fall in line with the apex.

The apex is the fullest part of the bust, usually where the nipple lies.  In the photo above, you can see that the vertical seam aligns with the fullest part of the bust, and also aligns with the vertical seam on the dress form.  

Next up in my fitting and alteration series is changing the rise length.  Wanting to change the rise length might be a personal preference, or it may be due to a difference in torso length.  For this fitting/alteration exercise I'm going to assume that it is due to a different body shape than what the pattern was drafted for.

During the testing phase of the Hellebore Hi-Cut, one of my testers said she was surprised by how very high cut the legs were, and her pair seemed to be much higher than the pictures indicated.  After a bit of conversation, we determined that her crotch length was 2" shorter than the length indicated for her size.  ​Let's use this same fitting problem here: